Yorkshire, 1834. A month on from their private marriage ceremony, Ann Walker remains in York under the care of her doctor while Anne Lister, with fresh financial confidence and entrepreneurial vigour, renovates Shibden Hall in preparation for her wife to move in.
Learning of their plan to co-habit, Ann's protective tribe of relations are increasingly suspicious of Anne's motives, but they can't find the right words to express their fears about the nature of her relationship. Meanwhile, as the couple prepare for a fabulous honeymoon abroad, devastated Mariana Lawton's jealousy signals more trouble ahead.

Anne Lister's former flame, Isabella 'Tib' Norcliffe, threatens to derail Anne's idyllic honeymoon by revealing details of her complicated romantic past to Ann Walker. Questioned by Ann in the foothills of Mont Blanc, Anne Lister reveals something of her relationship with Mariana Lawton, but keeps back crucial information.

Anne Lister and Ann Walker launch a charm offensive on Ann's relatives, determined to show them that Miss Walker is flourishing at Shibden Hall. Anne is fascinated by the arrival of a railway in Yorkshire, and quizzes Halifax's men of industry on what this revolution could mean for the town.

Anne Lister is drawn back into her complicated past with Mariana during a trip to Lawton Hall. Determined to draw a line under the tempestuous 20-year relationship, the women find themselves raking over past heartache. Back at Shibden with her in-laws, Ann Walker receives a visitor of her own, in a sneaky move by her meddling cousins.

Halifax is smashed to pieces by a mob hungry for political change. It's a dangerous time to be a Tory - and a lesbian - but Anne Lister refuses to keep a low profile.

In the face of a campaign to destroy their relationship, serious cracks are appearing in Anne Lister and Ann Walker's marriage.

Anne's plans for her Halifax empire grow grander by the day, and she ignores Parker's warnings against the spiralling financial risk. She and Ann press on with the proposal for a division of the Walker land, meeting Captain Sutherland's every obstruction head-on. But Ann's litigious determination to secure her share of the family estate sends shockwaves through her tribe of relations.

Anne refuses to introduce Ann to her society friends during a trip to London, and simmering resentments on both sides of the relationship boil over. Back in Halifax, Anne is privately dismayed to realise she cannot count on the support of her family and receives terrible news about a friend. The ongoing mission to divide the Walker estate puts the couple under even more strain when Captain Sutherland arrives from Scotland determined to destroy Anne's reputation.